Pages

The Story of Cordelia and Chomsky

I've been a little MIA lately from the blogworld due to a few issues that make up the shit-storm that is my life. I think Hurricane Life-Hates-Christine has been downgraded to a slight rain shower for the time being, knock on wood, so I here I am. Ta. Da.

During this time of semi-self-induced stress I've had three things that have brought me the most comfort- the novel I'm reading (almost done with The Indian Killer and it's pretty dang good), and our two dogs, Cordie and Chomsky. Since this blog is a constant tribute towards books, I thought I'd give my pups some credit and explain the literary connections their names hold.

Cordelia (Cordie)

Cordie is technically my husband's dog, but since I pay for half of her food and take care of her quite often I think I can claim some rights (you know, in case we ever have a custody issue). She's six and half, quirky, anxious, and extremely needy. And I love her to death. Oh, and she lets me dress her up however I want, which is pretty damn fun.

Scott, of course named her, since he bought her (our rule). Officially, her name is based on some Buffy the Vampire Slayer character, since that's his favorite show (personally, I think he just thought Charisma Carpenter was hot and wanted to pay tribute, but whatever). I like to think of it as a slight nod to Shakespeare too, since Cordelia was the female lead in King Lear. I don't love Shakespeare, as we all know, but I think I'd prefer that that Cordelia be my dog's namesake rather than that stupid vampire (actually, I don't even know if she is a vampire, maybe a vampire fighter-?).

Chomsky Mumford Darwin (Chomsky)

Chomsky is my dog- all 60 lbs of him (and he's only 6 months old). He's a Chocolate Lab and is straight-up crazy. In all fairness, he has calmed down some, knows basic commands, and is pretty sweet, even when he tears up toilet paper. And, thanks to my husband, he can now hug on command. It's adorable. My small-Grinchy heart melts when he puts his ginormous paws on my shoulders and tries to lick my face.

Yeah, so anyway, moving on. His last name is actually my last name, but for the sake of privacy I've left that out. Darwin comes from Charles Darwin, the great naturalist who wrote On the Origins of Species and brought natural selection into light. Mumford is from the band Mumford and Sons, which I do like, but like the name more. It's just fun to say- Mummmmmmford. And then Chomsky, after linguist Noam Chomsky. I've always been really interested in Chomsky's work, studying him for various classes. I think some of his theories may be flawed, but I think he's fascinating. But I also really like Gnomes, and I saw somewhere a pun on Gnome Chomsky, and it became a huge joke that whenever I got my own dog his name would be Chomsky. The rest is history.

So, there you have it. I can't even have dogs without some sort of literary tie-in. Just wait until you hear what I want to name my kids...

Umm...Cordelia is neither a vampire nor a vampire slayer (well in the spin-off Angel she sort of kind of slays). She is Buffy's high school arch-nemesis/eventually sort of friend who dates her super-dorky friend Xander.